Registered 3-D optical thinfilm for remote identification

ABSTRACT

An item identification method includes providing a layer of material having an array of zones thereon. The array of zones on the layer is interrogated with a transmitted optical light beam. Light reflected by the array of zones is received. The light is reflected in a pattern that represents a code. At least one value of the code provided by the reflected light is determined.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/156,738, filed Jun. 3, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,920,049 which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to an optical system forlong-distance reading and analysis of encoded information carried by asubstrate, a method for applying the encoded information to thesubstrate, and the substrate itself with the encoded information appliedthereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Following the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, it is clear thatdespite security measures the United States of America can be attackedasymmetrically by an enemy. One method of attack could entailtransporting a weapon of mass destruction or other threat into theUnited States using land, sea or air vehicles that approach or penetrateour borders.

The number of sea-going vessels, aircraft, and land vehicles, as well asshipping containers and other packaging for goods, entering our andother nations through various ports and across borders exceeds severaltens of millions annually. This number is steadily increasing each year.Moreover, with each class of vessel or vehicle or package,distinguishing between them is often very difficult, and reliablyidentifying a container and its contents can necessitate severalre-inspections.

Systems for tracking land vehicles and determining the legitimacy oftheir registration have been developed. In one system, law enforcementofficers can rapidly identify stolen license plates, stolen vehicles orexpired registrations. The system includes a scanner for receiving andanalyzing data stored in a chip carried in the annual registrationdecal. The scanner interfaces with an on-board computer thatcommunicates with a central law enforcement database server via awireless transmission. However, this system can only scan registrationdecals that are essentially within the immediate visual proximity of theofficer wielding the scanner. Further, the system requires the placementof a physical instrumentality, i.e. the chip, within the registrationdecal.

It would therefore be highly desirable to have a registration andidentification system for determining information about place of origin,legitimacy of registration, and security inspections of the vehicle,vessel, or container. Further, it would be desirable to have anintegrated system of this kind that allows for interrogation of thisinformation at significant distances from a remote location (e.g., fromlocations with a commanding view over a large area or of a strategicpassage or checkpoint).

Enhanced vessel, vehicle or container identification technologies tomaintain security measures at ports or border through stations areurgently needed to protect national security and the orderly flow ofworld commerce. The present disclosure proposes one solution thatentails implementing a vessel, vehicle, and container registrationsystem based on encoded information carried on a substrate that can beremotely interrogated.

Present methods of identifying incoming vessels, vehicles and/orcontainers include inspection, re-inspection, and tracking thetransportation modality to locate and read, for example at a distancewith binoculars or up close with the naked eye, the registration and/orcontent information. On occasion, vessels, vehicles and containers haveto be chased down. Very-close range inspection of vessels is needed toascertain the identity of an entity observed acting oddly. In any majorport, hundreds of utility boats, sailboats and pleasure craft gounmonitored. In cargo ships, containers are spot-checked, but millionsof containers are virtually unmonitored. Systems that broadcast unitidentification and movement are expensive. Nor are private vehicles andutility craft subject to routine port inspection as such activitieswould require more equipment and personnel than is presently available.Thus the security monitoring is sporadic and incomplete.

A great need has therefore arisen for a system capable of long distanceremote identification by scanning encoded registration informationcarried on a substrate, which may be affixed directly to, or integratedinto, the structure of a vessel, vehicle or container. The substratecould comprise a layer of light-responsive material or it could comprisea decal covered with one or more layers of light-responsive material.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, a method is provided for providing item identification.The method includes providing a plurality of layers of material. Eachlayer of the plurality of layers has an array of zones thereon. Eachzone of the array of zones has a unique optical reflection frequency.The array of zones includes coded information. The array of zones oneach layer of the plurality of layers is optically interrogated with atransmitted optical light beam. Light reflected by the array of zones isreceived. The light is reflected in a pattern that represents the codedinformation. At least one value of the coded information provided by thereflected light is determined.

In another aspect, a method if provided for making an encoded decal. Themethod includes providing a first layer of material bearing printedinformation. The first layer of material is optically reflective at alloptical frequencies. At least one other layer of material is providedfor disposition atop the first layer of material. The at least one otherlayer of material is optically reflective at a first specificwavelength. Selected areas of the surface are treated such that only theselected areas reflect light at a specific frequency.

In yet another aspect, a method is provided for determining a registry.The method includes directing an optical beam at a transportationmodality coupled to a substrate including a plurality of regionsexhibiting a plurality of light reflection properties. A reflected lightis detected from the substrate. A first coded value associated with thereflected light is determined. The first coded value is compared with alibrary of stored values to determine whether the transportationmodality is a registered transportation modality.

Further aspects of the system, the decal, and the methods of using thesystem and fabricating the decal, are disclosed herein. The features asdiscussed above, as well as other features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in theart from the following detailed description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 a is an exploded view of one embodiment of the substrate 100carried by a sea-going vessel 30;

FIG. 2 b depicts the layers, in exploded view, of the substrate 100shown in FIG. 2 a while being optically interrogated;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled substrate 100 shown inFIG. 2 b;

FIG. 4 is a view of a two layer substrate showing a 2×2 matrix of zones;and

FIG. 5 is a view of a two layer substrate showing a 3×3 matrix of zones.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawing, in which a preferred embodimentof the disclosure is shown. However, many different embodiments arecontemplated and the present disclosure should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete andbetter convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system of the present disclosure is seen toinclude an optical interrogation device 10 transmitting an optical lightbeam 12 toward cargo containers 11 aboard a sea-going vessel 30 to“interrogate” encoded information carried by substrates 100 on thestructural walls of the stack of containers aboard the vessel 30. Theinterrogation device 10 receives and then reads a reflected optical beam14 composed of light of specific frequencies reflected from each of thesubstrates. The reflected optical beam 14 carries the encodedinformation as will be more fully described below. As used herein,“interrogation” includes directing a beam 12 of light at the stack ofcargo containers on the vessel 30, finding the substrates 100, receivingthe reflected beam of light 14, and analyzing the reflected light beam.Analysis of the light beam entails comparing the encoded informationwith a library of values stored either in the interrogation device 10,or where the library is stored in a hard drive at a remote location,sending the encoded information to the remote location.

The interrogation device of the disclosure consists of three components:(1) a substrate 100 generally including one or more layers carryingencoded information; (2) an optical interrogation device 10 forilluminating and reading encoded information carried by the substrate,and (3) a database for storing relevant information with code foraccessing, comparing, and processing the information.

The substrate 100 bearing the encoded information can be embeddeddirectly into the material structure of the transportation modality, orit can comprise an applique that can be attached to the transportationmodality structure. The size, shape and arrangement of the matrix ofzones bearing the encoded information is suited to remote reading atsignificant distances. Thin film layers overlying the substrate havezones that exhibit optical properties which, when collectively polled bythe interrogation device, exhibit decipherable data with the appearanceof a matrix of values that represent the encoded information. Thesubstrate and the covering layer(s) are stacked, and increasing thenumber of covering layers, the number of zones on the layers, and thenumber of different wavelengths to which the transmitted light respondscould exponentially and very significantly increase the number of valuessupported by each substrate.

The database facilitates identification of the transportation modalityand evaluation of the information carried by the substrate. The databaseis also able to correlate specific information and activities ofinterest, such as specific registrations, inspections, re-inspections,security intrusions, etc, that is encoded in and borne by theinterrogated substrate. The code supports the evaluation of input databy, among other things, deciphering the encoded data read by theinterrogating device. In addition, the code is capable of interpretinginformation correlating to a specific wavelength reflection as well asbinary code representing specific events or items of interest. Forexample, data of interest for a cargo container might include a uniqueregistration number, information concerning when the registration numberwas granted and by whom, on which ship, when and in what ports, was thecontainer loaded, inspected, or re-inspected, etc. As cargo containercould make several “trips” per month, the correlated data can provide aunique security indicator that can be remotely read at long distancesbefore the ship carrying the container ever enters a port andpotentially poses a serious threat. With the capability to remotely readsubstrates at long range, it may be possible to interrogate hundreds oftransportation modalities (vessels, aircraft, vehicles, and cargocontainers) each minute. The data can be rapidly compared to theinformation stored in the database to look for anomalies, such asuninspected cargo or improper registration information, or find aspecific modality, as for example a suspected missing container or asuspected amber alert (e.g., a kidnapping vehicle).

FIG. 2 a is an exploded view of one example of a substrate 100 thatincludes an opaque thin sheet plastic registration decal or applique 102having one or more fields of information 103 printed or otherwiseapplied thereto, and a plurality of thin film layers 104 i bearingencoded information, created in the manner taught below. The decal 102is made of a material that is opaque and reflective at all opticalwavelengths. The information 103 may include the year of issuance andthe country, state, or municipality responsible for issuance of thedecal, but other information may be printed on the decal, such as thatrelated to inspections, weight, type of use permitted, etc. FIG. 2 bshows thin film layers 104 a, 104 b, 104 c each including zones 105 on amajor surface. The zones have optically reflective or non-reflectiveproperties, and are arranged in a matrix. Each of the layers 104 a, 104b, 104 c is disposed atop and covers the registration decal 102, andeach is optically reflective or non-reflective at a specific uniquewavelength. As an example, FIG. 2 b shows decal 102 being opticallyreflective in all wavelengths, and layers 104 a, 104 b, 104 c beingoptically reflective at only wavelengths 2.2μ, 1.4μ, and 1.8μ,respectively. The size, shape and configuration of each matrix of zonesis correlated to the distance, resolution, and sensitivity of theintended transportation modality, the amount of vibration and moisture,the environment, and the interrogation system. The matrix of zonesrepresents information of a type that may, for example, correlate toidentification of ownership and registration of the transportationmodality, contents of the structure being interrogated, places ofinspection and re-inspection of the interrogated structure, whether andwhen taxes or tariffs have been paid, etc.

FIG. 3 is a perspective, side view of the substrate 100 and threeseparate layers 104 a, 104 b, and 104 c disposed atop the registrationdecal 102. All of the layers shown have their surface areas divided intozones arranged in an N×M matrix or array, where in the case of FIGS. 2and 3, N represents the number of rows and is equal to 3, and Mrepresents the number of columns and is equal to 3.

With further reference to FIG. 3, each of the layers covering theregistration decal 102 has a plurality of zones associated therewithwhich are optically reflective for a specific optical wavelength, asdiscussed above. Each of the unique wavelengths is chosen as a functionof chemical elements or compositions thereof that have been added, bychemical mixture or by coating, to the material of the layers.Alternatively, the unique wavelengths may be obtained by effectingstructural changes (e.g., by crystalline growth), or by formationthrough plastic reflective physical shaping (e.g., “cuts”), to therespective thin film plastic covering layers 104.

FIG. 4 shows a substrate 100 which might be formed of paper or plasticand which comprises a registration decal 102 and a single covering layer104 a with an array 105 of regions or zones defined thereon. Inaccordance with the present disclosure, any one, or any combination, ofthe zones can be made optically reflective or optically non-reflectivein response to light of a predetermined frequency (for example, oneoptical frequency in the optical light ray transmitted from the scanner)that has been directed at the layer. Each zone which is made opticallyreflective can be viewed as having been given a positive signal orvalue, while each zone that is made optically non-reflective can beviewed as having been given a negative signal or value, and the resultwill be a sequence of values associated with that layer 104.

The zones shown in FIG. 4 in the layer 104 a comprise a 2×2 matrix orarray, while the matrix of zones shown in layer 104 a in FIG. 5 comprisea 3×3 array. By selectively making combinations of the zones in the FIG.4 array reflective or non-reflective, 16 possible values are achievableusing only a single layer. Using two layers, one atop the other, andeach having a 2×2 array of zones, 256 possible values can be obtained(16×16 zones). Similarly, by selectively making the zones in the 3×3array shown in FIG. 5 optically reflective or non-reflective, 81possible values can be obtained. By using two covering layers (not shownhere), each having a 3×3 array of optically reflective or non-reflectivezones, it is possible to create over 6500 values. And by using threelayers (not shown) each having a 3×3 array of optically reflective ornon-reflective zones, over 530,000 values can be obtained. Although thediscussion has focused so far on the 2×2 array of zones and the 3×3matrix of zones in each covering layer, the disclosure contemplates anarray of any size M×N, where M is the number of rows in the array and Nis the number of columns in the array. It is to be understood that thenumber of values that could be represented by such an array would onlybe limited by the size of the storage medium required to contain thelibrary of acceptable values and value combinations being stored forcomparison following scanning of the matrices.

By adjusting the reflective properties of the various zones 105 in thematrix, different combinations of optical values can be obtained. An N×Mmatrix of zones on each layer, having two optical properties, wouldyield (N×M)_(P) possible combinations of values, where N=the number ofrows, M=the number of columns, and P is the number of optical propertiesbeing adjusted. Further, using K layers having P adjustable opticalproperties for an N×M matrix could yield ((N×M)^(P))^(K) unique values.

The optical properties of the various zones 105 in the matrix are afunction of the substance of which the film or coating is made. Theproperties which are being considered here are optical reflectivity andoptical non-reflectivity; however, one other property that could be usedis optical absorption.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the thin film layer can be aplastic material mixed with a chemical composition yielding a specificoptical reflectance frequency. In another embodiment, a transparentlayer can be coated with a material having a specific optical reflectivefrequency. In yet another embodiment, each of the zones in an array canbe doped with one element from the Periodic Table. In still anotherembodiment, each of the zones in an array can be doped with two or moreelements from the Periodic Table. In still another embodiment, each ofthe zones in an array can be a doped with a combination of elements fromthe Periodic Table.

The present disclosure contemplates manufacture of the layers andcreation of the zones using processing techniques that permit theaddition of materials that can alter the behavior of the layers inresponse to such factors as temperature, pressure, and humidity, andenergy (e.g., x-ray, ultraviolet, gamma, infrared, visible light, andradio frequency energy).

While the disclosure has been made with reference to a preferredembodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing fromthe essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that thisdisclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as thebest mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that thedisclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing item identificationcomprising: providing a plurality of layers of material, each layer ofthe plurality of layers having an array of zones thereon having a uniqueoptical reflection frequency such that the zones of each layer areoptically reflective at a respective predefined optical reflectionfrequency and the zones of each layer are optically transparent at afrequency other than the respective predefined optical reflectionfrequency, wherein the array of zones include coded information;optically interrogating the array of zones on each layer of theplurality of layers with a transmitted optical light beam; receivinglight reflected by the array of zones, the light being reflected in apattern that represents the coded information; and determining at leastone value of the coded information provided by the reflected light. 2.The method of claim 1, and further including providing a database ofvalues representing known information, wherein the step of determiningat least one value of the coded information comprises comparing thecoded information with the database of values.
 3. A method of making anencoded decal, comprising: providing a first layer of material bearingprinted information, said first layer of material being opticallyreflective at all optical frequencies, providing at least one otherlayer of material for disposition atop the first layer of material, saidat least one other layer of material being optically reflective at afirst specific wavelength, and treating selected areas of said at leastone other layer of material to form a plurality of zones such that thezones of the plurality of zones are optically reflective at the firstspecific wavelength and zones are optically transparent at a frequencyother than the first specific wavelength.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein treating selected areas further comprises arranging theplurality of zones in a matrix configuration.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein treating selected areas further comprises doping said selectedareas with chemicals that reflect light at the first specificwavelength.
 6. A method of determining a registry, said methodcomprising: directing an optical beam at a transportation modalitycoupled to a substrate comprising a plurality of regions exhibiting aplurality of light reflection properties, the substrate including aplurality of layers of material that each has a unique opticalreflection frequency such that the regions of each layer are opticallyreflective at a respective predefined optical reflection frequency andthe regions of each layer are optically transparent at a frequency otherthan the respective predefined optical reflection frequency; detecting areflected light from the substrate; determining a first coded valueassociated with the reflected light; and comparing the first coded valuewith a library of stored values to determine whether the transportationmodality is a registered transportation modality.
 7. The method of claim6 further comprising: determining a second coded value associated withthe reflected light; and comparing the second coded value with thelibrary of stored values to determine whether the transportationmodality is the registered transportation modality.